


Waiting for the Moment

by Lazchan



Category: Akatsuki no Yona | Yona of the Dawn
Genre: Gen, Spoilers for Zeno's past
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-08
Updated: 2018-10-08
Packaged: 2019-07-28 00:04:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,290
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16230074
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lazchan/pseuds/Lazchan
Summary: Zeno watches and waits for the right time to meet Yona and has to trust the others to take care of her.





	Waiting for the Moment

Zeno sat along the edge of a rooftop, slowing eating a meat bun he had managed to snag, watching the crowd as they went by. Ryokuryuu was still here in Awa, with the group of fishermen turned pirates. He smiled faintly to himself. How appropriate for him to be somewhere that never settled.

The Miss was here as well, along with Seiryuu and Hakuryuu. So many already by her side—if she convinced Ryokuryuu, it would be special indeed, but he was watching her more for what she did to help with this blighted town. _Did she even realize at all, what sort of dangers and tragedies could occur if a rule never tried to squelch the problem before it started?_

She was seeing it now, he knew—he saw her when she visited other towns, but this was something else entirely; this was a noble that was all too carefree with his power and only Gigan's pirate crew was standing up to him. Finishing the rest of the meat bun, he dropped to the ground, keeping closer by and suppressing his presence so that no one picked up on it. This was going to be a defining moment for the Miss, he was sure of it.

  
_Ah, Ryokuryuu, I'm glad you found a family that can teach you that you can trust others._

  
He watched as the blood called out to Ryokuryuu, a faint echo had set up in his mind as well, tying them all together, even with Zeno hiding himself as he was. He was just glad that Seiryuu was not here, even when he hid himself, Seiryuu could probably find him, even if he didn't know what it meant.

  
The Miss would do whatever she could, he was certain, to help Ryokuryuu and the people of this town. He was just curious how far she would go to prove herself.

~

Zeno knew; he knew that Gigan and her group were only going to take people that could be useful. He was just surprised that she hadn't mentioned her archery at all. That was a good skill to have. Still, he hadn't expected Gigan to go as far as she did to test Yona's strength.

He stared at Yona as she navigated the narrow expanse of the cliff, his heart beating so fast in his chest that he thought it would collapse upon itself and actually kill him this time. She wasn't going to die or get hurt or fall into the ocean…

  
The blood roared in his ears and even thought he wasn't anywhere near the edge of the cliff like she was, he felt the ground tip and open up underneath him, the water pulling at him, trying to suck him under. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

  
”Zeno is being silly," he whispered to himself. "The ocean can't reach up and grab Zeno, he's safe on the cliff and away from the water." He opened his eyes a little to track Yona's progress and got light-headed and swore that he blacked out for a moment when he saw the wave rush up and engulf her. He couldn't make himself move to see; he strained to feel her presence instead, his heart in his throat. _No… no no no. I waited too long. I was too selfish. I wanted to make sure and now it's too late. The ocean got her, it's sucked her under and I couldn’t save her at all what am I going to do…_

He almost missed the sound of Ryokuryuu's voice, scolding Yona and helping her back up. His heart still hurt and his lung ached from trying to hold in the desperate sobs. He almost lost Hiryuu again, almost lost the cute miss that was trying; he almost failed again before he got the chance to do anything. He shuddered and backed away from the water. Ryokuryuu had the Miss and she was fine. _Fine_. She was wet and scared and shaking, but she wasn't in the ocean, she wasn't sinking to the bottom—

He took another breath and hurried as far away from the water as he could get and still be close enough to watch every body.

~

He watched her and the boy she was with as they went undercover and silently applauded her bravery. She was doing better, she was thinking, she was being strong—  


_Why is she going out onto a boat? Why is no one else around her but the boy? What is going to happen—_ Zeno couldn't go out onto the water, he couldn't watch, he couldn't help. He had to trust in her. He sat on the edge of the town, watching the lights on the water, the darkness seeming to suck it all under, grabbing and shifting and hiding all sorts of nasty things.

Still—the fight was interesting, if he could ignore the water. _Hakuryuu and Seiryuu are so strong—_ he pressed the spyglass to his eye, watching what he could, analyzing, waiting for it to spill over to the town. He could protect people in the town if that happened, he could be useful in that way at least. It seemed to stay steady on the water, though and Zeno continued to watch, keeping his breath still and calm, trying not to panic.  


_Not panicking, Zeno is not panicking, Zeno isn't going to panic at all._ He kept on repeating it to himself, whispering it over and over, unaware he was speaking out loud until his voice came out in a strangled moan when Ryokuryuu was hit and landed in the water.  


_No no no, why is everyone getting hurt while Zeno is just sitting and watching?_  


He barely had time to process that thought before the arrow shot out of the darkness; the fire and brightness of Yona's soul lighting up the darkness and pushing away his fear with it's strength. He could only stare in awe at the spot where she was.  


She had overcome her biggest obstacle, she had overcome her fear of killing, of using a weapon against someone… to protect Ryokuryuu. Zeno smiled softly to himself and edged away from the ocean again. The Miss was doing well indeed. She was strong and brave and she protected her dragons without hesitation.

He didn't notice the slippery edge of the bank, he didn't have time to save himself as he tripped over the edge and into the water. The panic set in immediately, the water closing over his head. He had this happen before; before when he was trying to escape, trying to die—  


_\--trying to be free of his blood and the land and the ocean was so vast and empty and terrifying—_

He had discovered he couldn't die, not even far from Hiryuu castle, not deep under the water, not without any air or food or light. He had been trapped for days, he thought. He couldn't remember, didn't want to remember, didn't want to think about how dark the ocean was or what lived in there. He couldn't remember the things that swam by or what tried to attack him.

It was all too familiar now, though—he flailed and gasped, inhaling water and muck and rushing to the surface faster than before, clinging to the edge and running as far and fast as he could away from the ocean. He didn't want to watch, didn't need to watch how it all ended. The sunlight tinged the roofs over the town and he breathed in deeply, sagging against a wall, not realizing he was crying silently.

It was worth it to see the Miss and Ryokuryuu, Seiryuu, and Hakuryuu, but he didn't ever want to see the ocean again.


End file.
